Sacramento councilman Sean Loloee keeps getting caught yelling at his detractors | Opinion
It’s been a rough road for Sacramento City Council Member Sean Loloee since the political novice was elected in 2020. He was investigated by various media outlets and the city for allegedly not living in his north Sacramento district, a saga that featured Loloee giving conflicting statements about where he lived and growing increasingly agitated by legitimate questions from reporters.
Police have been called to Loloee’s Hagginwood home to investigate vehicles sold there, and police were also called to a party at his house where a man allegedly brandished a gun.
Meanwhile, his District 2 constituents are in dire need of more housing, but Loloee has said in public meetings that he is “not a fan of affordable housing.”
Eventually, he was cleared by a city-hired investigator regarding questions about his residence, but these problems seem to have caused Loloee to lash out at people who question him.
And, increasingly, he has been caught on video lashing out at anyone who dares disagree with him.
Natomas resident Angela Grijalva captured a video of a confrontation she had with Loloee at a recent North Sacramento Chamber of Commerce joint event with the Natomas Chamber of Commerce.
Grijalva is an official ambassador for the Natomas chamber and was working at the chamber event when she was introduced to the council member. Grijalva is also the daughter of Maria Grijalva, who was sued for defamation by Loloee. That suit was dismissed, said Mark Merin, a lawyer who represented Maria Grijalva.
Angela Grijalva said she thinks Loloee recognized her last name. She said at one point, Loloee began cursing at her and asking about her mother. Grijalva claims Loloee directed personal attacks at her, including calling her a “disgusting pig.”
The video Grijalva took doesn’t capture those words, but Loloee does call her “a liar,” an “instigator” and “a horrible human being” on camera. Worse, the video shows Loloee escalating a situation when one would hope an elected member of the Sacramento City Council would de-escalate a tense encounter.
Loloee did not return multiple requests for comment.
“It was apparent that he was not going to stop until he got his ire out on me,” Grijalva said.
Grijalva said she felt attacked by Loloee. “What was most shocking was how easily this behavior came to him,” she said.
“I’ve been playing it over and over in my head trying to think about what I could have done to minimize or avert (him),” Grijalva said. “It was triggering because it took me back to feeling like I had to escape.”
This isn’t the first time Loloee has yelled at a woman in public: At a Sacramento City Council meeting on Feb. 7, Loloee directed an outburst against a group of people, mostly women, at the meeting.
Loloee argued and yelled, at one point even leaving the dais to stick his finger in the face of several women.
Both sides became increasingly agitated. The already angry members of the public responded in kind to Loloee’s lack of professionalism. I was in the council chambers when it happened, and it was exasperating to watch.
Last November, Loloee told a female Bee reporter who had written about his residency issues that she “had blood on her hands” and called her a criminal who should be arrested “for crimes.”
To be fair, it’s not easy to be an elected official. This is particularly true when elected officials are confronted with hostility and profane language. But in these situations, it was Loloee who was overly aggressive, and it was Loloee who has now engaged in several, documented instances of berating his critics.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg makes a big deal of audience decorum at council meetings. He has lectured audience members about this many times.
But what about the decorum of a council member sitting on the dais? It’s a question that should move Steinberg and his council colleagues to action if Loloee continues to publicly accost people he disagrees with.
